Monday, October 11, 2004

Daily Prospect Report 10/11

Believe it or not, he was drafted 4 spots ahead of Adam Dunn, and 1 spot before prospect-turned quarterback Chad Hutchinson. Kelton's kind of stagnated in AAA. He needs a change of scenery, or for the Cubs to give him a real shot at a big league job. He's probably out of options now, or close to it. So his chance will come soon, or else he'll fall into the class of AAA sluggers.

Kelton hit .245/.303/.448 in 420 AB in Iowa this season. He hasn't posted a batting average above .300, an OBP over .350, or a SLG above .500 since 2001, with AA West Tennessee.

He isn't good defensively anywhere, which makes it also hard to grasp the idea that he was drafted as a prep shortstop. And he isn't fast. He's a platoon corner outfielder. If he's lucky, he might find a role for himself as a leftymasher teaming up with a player like Matt Stairs. In other words, right now he's an inferior version of Ryan Ludwick.